Avery is here! After much anticipated waiting, our little girl has arrived. Here is the story of the night she arrived:
It all started at 9:45 on April 1. We had just gone to bed when I felt a snap. At first I thought it was baby girl punching me, but something was different about it. After a few minutes, I decided to just walk around and pack some snacks into our hospital bag. It was then that I started to realize that something was different. That snapping feeling was my water breaking, but I didn't have that gush of water that you see in the movies. I also started to get some seriously painful contractions. At this point, I decided that it was time to wake Jamie up and let him know what was going on. We called our lovely neighbor, Patty, who had volunteered to stay with Aden when I went into labor, got everything in the car, and headed out.
By 10:30, we were on the road to the hospital. For those of you who don't know, we live 1 to 1 1/2 hours away from the hospital, depending on traffic. My contractions were 5 minutes apart when we left the house and just under 3 minutes apart by the time we arrived at the hospital. It was the most interesting car ride I've ever had.
The nurses were great. They didn't care that I was wearing shorts and a t-shirt (putting on my abaya was not on my to-do list), they just grabbed a wheelchair and took me to an examination room. Jamie came in about 5 minutes later to hear that I was 10 cm dilated. I was really hoping for at least 6 cm, but was not expecting 10. At that point I asked "So, are we having the baby here?" and the answer was yes. Avery was so excited to arrive, that she wasn't going to make it up a few stories to the Labor and Delivery section of the hospital. We were having an ER baby! We were told that babies are delivered about once a month in the ER, but the room was definitely not set up for delivering. As I got into position to push, I asked for stir-ups to put my feet into. The bed only had one, and it just held my leg up. There was nothing for me to push on. Jamie understand what I needed and ordered two nurses to hold onto my feet so that I could use them as leverage. He did such a good job being my advocate the whole time!
After just a few contractions in the examination room, I was told that it was time to push. It was at this time that I realized how wrong most tv/movie labor scenes are. Yes, labor is painful but you can't scream and push at the same time. According to Jamie, I did scream a few times and people down the hall could probably hear me, but it was so worth it. After 3 pushes our little Avery was here. She arrived at 12:02 on April 2nd weighing 9 lbs and was 21.25 inches long.
It all started at 9:45 on April 1. We had just gone to bed when I felt a snap. At first I thought it was baby girl punching me, but something was different about it. After a few minutes, I decided to just walk around and pack some snacks into our hospital bag. It was then that I started to realize that something was different. That snapping feeling was my water breaking, but I didn't have that gush of water that you see in the movies. I also started to get some seriously painful contractions. At this point, I decided that it was time to wake Jamie up and let him know what was going on. We called our lovely neighbor, Patty, who had volunteered to stay with Aden when I went into labor, got everything in the car, and headed out.
Our little girl!
(sorry it's sideways, but I'm done fighting the computer to try and fix it)
By 10:30, we were on the road to the hospital. For those of you who don't know, we live 1 to 1 1/2 hours away from the hospital, depending on traffic. My contractions were 5 minutes apart when we left the house and just under 3 minutes apart by the time we arrived at the hospital. It was the most interesting car ride I've ever had.
Exhausted, but she was worth it
The nurses were great. They didn't care that I was wearing shorts and a t-shirt (putting on my abaya was not on my to-do list), they just grabbed a wheelchair and took me to an examination room. Jamie came in about 5 minutes later to hear that I was 10 cm dilated. I was really hoping for at least 6 cm, but was not expecting 10. At that point I asked "So, are we having the baby here?" and the answer was yes. Avery was so excited to arrive, that she wasn't going to make it up a few stories to the Labor and Delivery section of the hospital. We were having an ER baby! We were told that babies are delivered about once a month in the ER, but the room was definitely not set up for delivering. As I got into position to push, I asked for stir-ups to put my feet into. The bed only had one, and it just held my leg up. There was nothing for me to push on. Jamie understand what I needed and ordered two nurses to hold onto my feet so that I could use them as leverage. He did such a good job being my advocate the whole time!
Proud Daddy!
After just a few contractions in the examination room, I was told that it was time to push. It was at this time that I realized how wrong most tv/movie labor scenes are. Yes, labor is painful but you can't scream and push at the same time. According to Jamie, I did scream a few times and people down the hall could probably hear me, but it was so worth it. After 3 pushes our little Avery was here. She arrived at 12:02 on April 2nd weighing 9 lbs and was 21.25 inches long.
Our little sweet pea!
A huge thanks to our fantastic friends Laura, Heather, and the Youngs. Laura and Heather stopped by our house to get our passports before coming to visit us in the hospital. We needed the passports to get the report of birth from the hospital. Heather also went to the airport late that night to pick up my mom since we were still in the hospital and made sure she was settled into the house. We feel very blessed by your generosity ladies! The Youngs also worked on some important paperwork for us and stayed overnight with Aden. This was not an easy job since the first day he woke up at 4 am and wouldn't go back to sleep. Thank you Nonny and and Poppy!
I'm on maternity leave for the next 7 weeks, so I'll be able to update more frequently that we have been. Check back again soon to see how much she has grown!
I'm guessing my other sister-in-law, Kathy, is hoping for as quick of a delivery! Keep the updates coming!!!
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